These Monday mornings
by Greybowtie
Summary: They're not the Breakfast Club, although they very well could be. An overplayed high school AU featuring most of the total drama series characters.


I have no ownership nor do I have a part in the creation of Total Drama and the characters in the show.

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The first drabble is a collaboration with Paperspell.

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Cody's chest had been bubbling with excitement ever since this morning. Maybe it had something to do with the crisp autumn air, or the slow pinking of the sky as the sun was rising. Of course, having an extra fifty dollars tucked away in his pocket may have something to do with it. It doesn't hurt that tonight, there would be a amateur school concert held in the auditorium, with tickets normally being ten dollars but is discounted fives dollars especially for him. A guy's gotta have connections. But perhaps the remaining fifty percent that caused his hands to shake and his beat to quickening was standing across the dining hall. Today's breakfast was ham and eggs, with toast on the side. It wasn't moving, which Cody took into account as being a good omen. Scooting over next to Harold, Cody wonders how to proceed the pending question.

"So um...you going to the concert?" Cody asked, grabbing a tray.

Harold squinted at the eggs, and proceeded to prod it a little with his fork. He stopped when he realized Chef was glaring at him from behind the counter. They quickly shuffled away and grabbed spare seats facing the windows.

"Yess.." Harold said, after taking a bite from his breakfast. He gulped down his orange juice and replied hastily, "I got my killer keyboard ready to go. It's gonna be _ssweeetttt_."

"Right, right. And Trent...?"

"Uh..." Harold paused as he took, in Cody's opinion, the slowest sip of orange juice to grace the breakfast routine.

"Affirmative," the lankier of the two replied after setting down his drink.

"Cool," Cody asserted as he craned his neck over to look at his fifty percent. "Er- got a date?"

"Of course," Harold confirmed with his chin tilted up slightly, his chest drawn out to a small degree.

"Yeah, that's cool. Is it Beth?"

"Beth? Why would it be Beth? I would ask her if she was the last girl on earth but that's not gonna happen anytime soon. My date could only be the one, the beautiful, the fair Leshawna. Gosh!"

"Oh...uh my bad dude." Cody apologized hastily as Harold heaved a huff. "So you asked her already?"

"One simply just doesn't ask the fair Leshawna. She picks whose worthy. Duh."

"So. No."

Harold's posture slumped as he heaved a sigh, "Affirmative."

Then, without so much as missing a beat, Harold asked in what he thought as a low whisper and what Cody thought of as a louder than necessary drawl, "Did you ask Gwen yet?"

At that precise moment, his fifty percent seemed to turn her head and look briefly at his direction.

Cody choked on his ham and eggs. He coughed and hacked before he received a rough pat on his back, which dislodged the food from his throat.

"You might wanna be careful with that, man. Bad enough that Chef's regular food kills on a daily basis, but we can't have you clocking out too soon before tonight," came Trent's voice. Steady hands patted Cody's back some more, and soon the newcomer walked off.

"Ye-Yeah." Cody took a quick sip from his glass. He could feel the heat radiating from his ears. Did she happen to see- God, nothing screams boob more than choking on your own food with your crush a few feet away. When he finally does peer up, it's around that time when Gwen's empty seat to the right gets occupied. Trent's guitar case slides off his shoulder and settles to the ground. As usual, in his hand is a blueberry muffin, which he offers to the girl on his left.

Trent's a cool dude. He plays guitar and even offered to teach Cody as well. He was also down for giving Cody the word on the ladies of this school, a favor the latter would return if he had any of that knowledge to begin with. Trent's also game for hanging out and homework help. He's a cool dude.

So why is it that when the blueberry muffin is accepted with a smirk does Cody feel a spark of indigence? The two talk some more, before heading out the hall. But class doesn't start for twenty five minutes and-Cody glances at his wristwatch- seventeen seconds. He stands suddenly, leaving the remains of his breakfast, which Harold draws out a "Dude?" to. Cody just wants to know if he could walk with them-preferably in a deserted hallway, with Gwen and him alone and Trent lingering in the back. Scratch that-Trent just heading off somewhere else. With his guitar and all. Cody's legs instinctively move faster as he sees the couple making a round about turn. His fifty percent felt a little bit more like thirty five. Thirty now, he's tripped on his untied shoelaces and is unable to keep up. How long did this hallway stretch for anyway?

It didn't matter, because even before he makes the turn, he hears the words he was about to say. Except he didn't. Trent did.

"All right. Okay. You caught me. I won't beat around the bush," came Trent's deep voice. He sounded nervous. Maybe he'll slip up."Go to the concert with me?"

Cody's breath hitched. And so did Gwen's. But in a much more audible volume. He wished he didn't have to hear it.

Thirty fell to twenty percent. Just like that.

"Sure. Sounds like it'll be cool." Gwen's husky voice came to agree.

Ten percent. Goddamn.

The was silence on the bend of the corner. Then an out burst of a nervous chuckle from Trent, an excuse from Gwen to get to class. Shuffling of sneakers and boots that eventually get muffled out. More silence. And then nothing. Not even one percent.

...

"And so, I totally had that dress! Oh, well, I saw it first before Katie anyway...or was it Sadie? So now, she gets to wear it and I don't!" Lindsay bubbled on, her voice above the tone that was acceptable in the ungodly hour of homeroom. Noah would have very much liked to be in his dorm room, still fast asleep instead of...well, all of this. Normally, the day starts at 8:30 a.m. sharp. It was now nearly 8:54. He had endured exactly twenty four minutes of Lindsay's senseless squabbling about hair accessories, boys, girls, diets, and (much to his slight amusement), the absence of Tyler, who was occupying a seat no more than two rows behind her. All the while, he could hear Beth's persistent approvals, from the "Yeahs", to the "Oh my gosh...did that really happen?" down to the vigorous head nodding.

It was quite impossible to not apply the skill of whispering for someone who gossips more than they should. However, Lindsay had no difficultly breaking expectations and possibly anything else that could be broken. The purpose of gossiping seemed non-existent to the blonde, which seemed literally mind numbing to Noah. Lindsay's voice could easily reach the far end of the classroom where coincidentally, Katie and Sadie both resided, both mirroring each other, down to the crossing of their arms and the downward tug of their lips. Katie then commenced to whisper in the same fashion as Lindsay. Unfortunately for her (and fortunately for Noah), Lindsay lacked the sense and listening skills of a average person and proceeded to jabber on, leaving Katie's cue dismissed. At least it won't resort in a cat fight. Again.

God, it was too early.

To Noah's left sat Gwen, who looked ready to stab herself in the ears with the pencil she long stopped using for her early morning sketch. Catching her eye, Noah let out a audible sigh. She spared a rare small smile before raising her index finger to her temple, mimicking shooting herself thereafter. Noah let out a snort. They were both joined shortly by Leshawna and afterward, Professor McLane made his morning appearance, marking the start of first period English.

"Good morning students!" He beamed.

"Is it? Is it really?" Noah muttered before letting his head rest against his arms. Leshawna's strong pats could be felt on the small of his back. McLane, never minding the comment, continued.

"Aren't all of you looking chipper this fine morning? Reminds me of little campers back at camp."

They were anything but. Harold was snoring with his head tilted back, a bit of drool escaping his lips. Duncan had leaned forward, and proceeded to take advantage of the former's vulnerability by uncapping his sharpie and marking the sleeper with the beginning of a crudely drawn beard. Courtney watched on without amusement and tutted. Geoff clutched his sides, trying to hold back laughter. Heather glared at Gwen. Gwen glared back. Lindsay's eyes were now glazed, staring out the window. It takes a special brand of people to truly appreciate mornings.

"Ahem," McLane continued, "Anyway, last weeks term papers were...well let me put it bluntly-they sucked. You kids really know how to disappoint. Seriously. Only a select few managed to turn in decently written essays. Needless to say, if I give you back your paper, you've done a decent job. The rest that don't receive theirs...well,there's good news. Because you guys get to right a new one from scratch," A collective groan echoed the classroom. "And this time, with an additional four pages added." More groaning.

Noah sighed inwardly. He hadn't really bothered with the first assignment, as he had put in minimal effort. Which means he'll have to deal with the second assignment as well. Joy.

"Wouldn't it make sense to keep the good papers and give out the bad ones? I mean, it would be a whole lot easier for us to correct it if we did badly," Leshawna reasoned.

"Yeah...that's true," The professor considered, "But no. I tossed the bad ones into my fireplace. It just left a bad after taste you know?" From this Duncan snorted.

"Oh. you don't have to worry about getting yours back Duncan. The excuse 'Owen ate my homework' was only funny the first seven times." Collective snickering could be heard. The delinquent just shrugged.

"Anyway Leshawna, you don't have to worry about correcting your paper," McLean commented as he passed hers back. Leshawna had let out a sigh of relief upon seeing an A minus. The rest continued. Gwen. Bridgette. Courtney. Heather. Cody. Sadie minus Katie. D.J. Trent. Beth. And Noah.

He blinked in surprise, unable to believed his paper received a passing grade. Not that he was complaining. This B plus had squeezed him out of extra work. Courtney flaunted her A plus proudly as usual, to which Duncan glanced up from his task of marking Harold's face to openly gag. Trent and Gwen exchanged papers and comments. Cody looked quite sullen for someone with an A minus, but moved towards the couple anyway. Heather went back to manicuring her nails but left her A plus paper in plain view to everyone's (especially Courtney's) line of vision. This proved effective in ceasing Courtney's bragging, and left her muttering under her breath how she "_should've gotten an A plus plus!_"

"Alright," McLean's voice interrupted the celebration and disappointment shared in the room. "Good news for the people that did poorly. You get to be paired up with the people that DID pass and have them help you with the second assignment. Those who passed don't have to worry about it."

A snort broke the silence. "Right. Like I want to spend time with anyone one of those geeks who'd like to rub their good grades in my face," Duncan complained.

"And, why do _we_ have to put up with those lazy pigs who didn't do the first assignment right? You're making us carrying dead weight!" Courtney asserted.

"_Because, _the people who did poorly get a second chance at a decent grade, meaning I won't have to fail them and risk losing my job due to half the class failing this assignment. Plus, those who help get extra credit." McLane's explanation ceased both complaints. Until he decided to pair the two up. What had followed were indignant exclamations and disapproval. If McLane could master turning a blind eye and deaf ear towards any given situation, Noah could provide a very slow applause that very moment.

Heather's gloating ceased upon realizing she had been paired with Owen. Bridgette appeared wry to be partnered with Geoff. D.J. was paired with Eva, the latter looked ready to punch a solid brick wall due to the absence of her paper. Beth looked unenthusiastic to be paired with Ezekiel (but who wouldn't?) While Cody was trying to talk up Tyler. Gwen looked ready to stab herself without hesitation when partnered up with Katie, who let out a ecstatic squeal. It had died shortly when the latter saw Sadie gathering up her things to sit next to Justin, to which her expression morphed into one of pure jealousy. Poor Trent was paired with Izzy, who claimed that she ate her own thesis paper, and '_wouldn't let anyone else do it, least of all Owen. No offense._'

But of course Noah had to be paired with Lindsey, who upon hearing his approach, glance up, gave a genuine smile before addressing him as Nick.

"Students," rang McLane's voice,"We have got to raise those GPA's! Seriously. They're pitiful. This school has a reputation. You know, the one with us being one of the most prestigious private boarding school of the country? Yeah that's the one. Rich families wouldn't want to send their kids here otherwise."

Harold had awoke halfway into the period by Leshawna's gentle shakes. His face was now decorated with crudely drawn zits, moles and a uni-brow. To her credit, she handed him a wet towel and provided a re-cap without so much as a giggle. At any other time, Harold would have be ecstatic and downright embarrassing when discovering his good fortune by being paired up with Leshawna. However, with a wipe not being able to successfully clean half his face filled with permanent markings (although very successful in smearing it), a prospect of starting a new assignment from scratch with an additional four pages, he was anything but. He finished his long, long sigh (seriously, were his lungs built for it?) with his trademark exclamation.

"Gosh!"

Noah, catching his partner spill pink nail polish into a newly written paragraph, couldn't agree more.


End file.
